The Philadelphia Flyers, through no real fault of their own, missed out on Shea Weber when the Nashville Predators opted on Tuesday to match a 10-year, massively frontloaded $110 million deal for the All-Star defenseman.

On Wednesday, GM Paul Holmgren said the attempt to lock up Weber had little to do with his feelings about the team's current group of defensemen.

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"We took a shot at Shea Weber because he's Shea Weber," Holmgren told reporters on Wednesday.

"To try and add a guy like Shea Weber, doesn't really speak to anything other than maybe you are adding one of the best guys in the league."

Right now, Philadelphia's top six defensemen are Braydon Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann, Andreas Lilja, Andrej Meszaros, Luke Schenn and Kimmo Timonen. There's no strong No. 1 there; Chris Pronger used to fill that role, but his career is in doubt because of post-concussion syndrome.

Holmgren also said that he expects to sign RFA winger Jakub Voracek and pair him with star center Claude Giroux, and that he's happy to wait on free-agent Shane Doan, who's waiting on clarity in the Phoenicx Coyotes' ownership situation before deciding his future. Doan visited the Flyers last week.

"I think (Doan) is a very loyal guy. He is loyal to Don Maloney, and the Phoenix franchise. I give him kudos for that," Holmgren said.